


Stormy Memories

by Jumpyrope



Category: Corpse Party - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Gore, Hurt/Comfort, spooky scary thunderstorms
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-15
Updated: 2016-10-18
Packaged: 2018-08-22 14:24:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8288878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jumpyrope/pseuds/Jumpyrope
Summary: Miss horror lover doesn't love horror so much after she faced it for real. Ayumi needs some help if she's going to survive this thunderstorm.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Fic! Hope you enjoy.

A crack of thunder strikes the girl awake. She looks around frantically. Where are her friends? Where is her classroom? Where is she? Another flash of lightening shows her the room, and a scream chokes in her throat. There was blood everywhere. Oozing up from the cracks in the old wooden floorboards, dripping from the walls, staining the ceiling. Handprints were messily spattered across the windows and chalkboard. The loud boom following the flash of light echoes through the room as a shiver runs down the girl's spine. It's only moments before another strike of lightening gives her full view of the room again. However, this time, she is not alone. Surrounding her are mangled and bloody children, four in total. One has his stomach spilling onto the floor, a second one has the top half of her head sliced clean off, and a third child steps forward. The little girl is missing an eye, a wide grin on her face. The thunder clap afterwards finally does bring a scream past the girl's lips. 

Ayumi Shinozaki wakes again with a start, this time for real. At least, she thinks it's real. Another flash of light pulls a squeak from her sore throat as she grips the blankets around her close to her chin. She squeezes her eyes shut, counting to ten in her head as she tried to calm her erratic breathing. It was no use. Every lightening flash and boom of thunder had her reliving those horrible nightmares of Heavenly Host Elementary. 

It has only been a week since her escape from that hell, and she was still barely gripping reality. Ayumi couldn't trust what was real. She was safe and at home, but she knows for absolute certain that it wasn't just a bad dream, and because of that, she could never feel safe. 

Dreams don't kill your friends, dreams don't erase them from existence. Unless, her entire reality was a dream and she just imagined all the others who didn't make it out. Ayumi looks down at her shaking hands, eyes wide and wondering if she herself was even real. She was starting to hyperventilate again, and another flash of lightening chokes out a sob. Panicked, she grabs for her phone and types quickly, going to the first person she could think of. 

"Mochida-kun" she texts with shaking fingers. It hurt her a little bit to send something so simple to her crush, but she couldn't help it when her hands were shaking too much to type. She waits eagerly for a reply, staring at her phone. Thinking about him looking at her message and typing back was already calming her down. But no reply comes. More cracks of thunder sound, and she glances at her clock to note that it is two in the morning. Of course, he's probably sleeping. Another loud bang outside ruins her hopes, and she starts shaking again.   
"No one is coming to save me, I'm all alone again" she thinks to herself. Another boom makes her cringe and curl in on herself, the noises turning from simple thunder to that of something much more horrific. The continuous bangs of Morishige's head against glass echoed in her mind with each sound, every crash reminded her of the disgusting splat that harshly ended Mayu's tortured screams as she was dragged down the hallway. Ayumi screams, holding her head in her hands. She still has no response from Satoshi. 

Ayumi used to love storms. She would insist on wanting to go out and play in the rain. Her sister would tell her stories of how the lightening was just electricity spirits dancing erratically. She used to think that storms were cool when she was safe in her house, but she no longer feels safe in her house and is no longer a fan of storms. With teary eyes she checks her phone again, heart sinking to the soles of her feet when she doesn't see a single thing. Ayumi curses her sister for choosing tonight to stay out late and possibly get caught in some store to shelter from the rain. Because of that, this poor girl was home all alone with no one to hear her if something were to happen. 

She looks helplessly at her phone again, sure that there is no indication that the boy she texted has even read her message yet. She considers sending another or even calling, but with her luck his phone was probably silenced or turned off. She starts looking through her phone for other people she could call on. She didn't want anyone that wasn't in the elementary school with her, she didn't need her classmates knowing that their class president was afraid of storms. 

Her eyes fall on one number, one that she responded to very few times. Yoshiki Kishinuma. Her face falls into a scowl thinking about crawling to him for help, but she wasn't about to consider Naomi. That poor girl was even more fucked up about everything than Ayumi, and having two girls freaking out is not what she needs right now. 

Another exceptionally loud crash makes her wince and close her eyes, heart hammering in her chest. Visions of ghost children and body parts flood the back of her eyelids. She opens them again quickly, replacing the sights with that of her phone lit up on her saving grace's name. She sighs, closing her eyes for a moment before opening the application. 

"Kishinuma." She types out and sends. Ayumi didn't feel the need to say much. He was either going to respond or not, so why bother typing a lot. She sighs, thinking bitterly that he probably wouldn't even want to respond to her after the way she treated him in the cursed school. Or the way she treated him before that. And before that. Ayumi starts feeling guilty, but mostly sorry for herself. If only she could have been nicer to him, then he would want to help her. Her eyes get wet and a few tears spill over and down her face. No one was going to help her, half her friends are dead and the other half hate her, and no one was coming to save her. 

Yoshiki responds to her text within a minute. 

"sup?" He says, those few letters lighting up Ayumi's screen light up her heart similarly. Immediately her fingers fly over the letters as she types a hasty response. 

"I dont like the storm" she sends, curling up into a tighter ball as she sniffles and sits up further. Just having someone to talk to was already making her feel less alone, even if he wasn't physically near her. She waits for a response, her hammering heart slowing just a bit. 

Ayumi throws the phone across the room when it starts ringing. ".. Shit." She mumbles to herself when she realizes how silly that was, and quickly slips out of her blankets to get it. She breathes a sigh of relief to see that it wasn't cracked. Before answering, she takes a deep breath and composes herself. 

"He-hhllo?" She murmurs out, voice cracking from crying.   
"You're scared of the storm too?" The weirdly hopeful voice rings too loud against her ear from the speaker. She absentmindedly turns down the volume.   
"I'm not scared! She argues, huffing.   
"Right, yeah," His voice was doing that thing where he sounds like a smartass being sarcastic, "you're just telling me you don't like the storm at two in the morning because you missed talking to me so much and you didn't know what else to start a conversation with."   
"Ugh, no." Ayumi groans, even sticking her tongue out. "I'd rather admit to being scared." 

A laugh rings from the other side, and she is surprised to find her own mouth twisting up into a little smile at the sound.   
"Yeah that's what I figured. So what's wrong? Do you need anything? Just someone to talk to? Help sleeping?" His voice is innocent and clearly trying to be helpful. Naturally, Ayumi takes it entirely the wrong way.   
"The hell do you mean by 'help sleeping?' You pervert, this isn't a booty call!" She snaps, flicking the light on in her room. She had bumped into her dirty clothes pile on the floor when pacing around her room on the phone, so light was needed. 

Yoshiki's next smartass response came after a moment, and Ayumi swears she could just hear the delinquent smirking.   
"I never said anything like that but if you want it to be that way then I'm totally down for-"   
"Ugh!" She cuts him off before he can say any more. "You disgust me, you creep! I hate you!" Her voice cracks and cuts through the phone like a knife, and the other line goes silent for a moment. Silence stretches across the two of them, and Ayumi starts to worry, anxieties flaring up inside her over her angers. She starts to speak, meaning to apologize.   
"I-"   
"I was being serious, you know." Yoshiki's softer voice shuts her up. "I mean, not about the whole booty call thing, that was a joke. But if you need anything.." He trails off slowly. She could almost see him fiddling around with the bottom hem of his shirt, and her heart sinks a little more. 

"... I need to take it all back." Ayumi practically whispers after a moment. A confused "huh?" comes from the other side of the phone before she continues. "Everything. I need to undo everything. Mayu, Ms. Yui, Morishige, Shinohara. The Sachiko charm. It was all my fault. I might as well have killed them myself."   
"Hey, Shino-"   
"I could've prevented all of this, just if I were different. If I didn't trust a stupid charm on the stupid internet, everything could have been different. I wanted to bring us all together but I-" she hiccups, tears starting to fall as she lets out the feelings she hasn't told anyone since they returned. "I-" after another choked off sob, she covers the receiver with one hand. She didn't want to let him hear her cry. 

"It's not your fault, you could never have known. None of us could have ever known. It was an accident. No different than a car crash." Yoshiki's comforting voice wasn't quite as comforting as he hoped it was, and really only succeeded in pissing Ayumi off more.   
"No different than a car crash?? Are you an idiot? Don't answer that, I already know you're an idiot. But seriously, a car crash?" She snaps back at him, fist clenched tightly around the phone. "Oh yeah, because car crashes always end with the dead being erased from fucking existence! And their souls being trapped and tormented for eternity in hell!" 

"Shinozaki..." He begins slowly, but doesn't get to finish. 

"Shut up! Shut up shut up shut up you aren't helping anything! You're just being useless like always and saying more stupid crap that doesn't get anybody anywhere! Worthless good for nothing! Delinquent! Drop out! Freak!" Her voice shakes as she yells into the phone, fat tears making her chin and cheeks all wet. "I hate you, I hate you!" She finally finishes her tantrum, huffing as she listens to the dead silence on the other end. It stretches on. And on. And on. Her heart begins to beat faster as she starts to panic. "Kishinuma? Kishi-"  
"I'm still here." His deep yet soft voice soothes her immediately, even if he did sound righteously pissed off.   
"Kishinuma I'm-"   
"Save it." Those two words are delivered with such contempt that she falls to her knees. A deep sigh comes from the other side and she is terrified of what he has next to say. "I'm not dealing with this over the phone." She barely had time to process the words before the call is ended with a click. Ayumi's shaking hands drop the phone to the floor with a little clatter, and the lightening strike outside doesn't even make her jump. After a moment of going totally catatonic, she covers her face with her hands and sobs into them.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the second chapter of my fic! As always, please please leave a comment or anything really! Thank you!

There is no way for her to really know how long she stayed like that, kneeling on the floor with her face sobbing into her hands. Her only hope of not going insane on her own just hung up on her, and the thunder was only getting worse. She could hear the wind whipping outside and the rain spattering on the window. It almost felt like something was about to grab her, snatch her up and drag her away into hell again. 

Loud banging on her front door makes her shriek with surprise, eyes wide as her whole body tightens every muscle. Who the hell would be knocking on her door in the middle of the night during a huge storm? There was no doubt in her mind that it was a demon or spirit of some sort coming to take her down into the underworld. She stands up, shuddering as the banging happens again with three ominous consecutive knocks. Ayumi tiptoes into her kitchen, grabbing the biggest knife she could find before going up to the door. If she was going to face a demon, she felt at least a little safer with a weapon.   
She peeks through the peep hole and what her blue grey eye sees shocks her. 

Bleached blonde hair, soaked thoroughly and dripping wet on the shoulders of none other than Yoshiki Kishinuma. Slowly, Ayumi opens the door and looks outside. There he was, sure as day, standing at her doorstep with a relieved smile. They stare at eachother for a moment, before Ayumi decides to speak.   
"What do you think you're doing here." She glares at the dripping wet boy, who seemed to be shivering on her doorstep.   
"Catching a nasty cold." His dumbass smartass response actually makes her scowl ease up a bit into the very early beginnings of a smile. He continues. "Can I come in? I'm actually, uh, very freezing out here." He admits only somewhat shamefully as he shifts on his wet feet. Ayumi groans but steps aside to let him in, shutting the door behind them.   
"Fine, but stay right here. I'll go get you a towel." She orders before walking away. She stops by in the kitchen to return the knife, hiding it from his sight. 

In the bathroom, Ayumi takes a breather, staring at herself in the mirror. "How the hell did you get yourself in this mess, Shinozaki." She asks herself before pushing away from the mirror to grab a towel. She returns to the front door, but drops the towel on the floor when she takes in the sight before her. 

Just like after the disgusting pool in the school, Yoshiki was stripping off his wet clothes without an ounce of shame. Ayumi's face flushes as she looks away, glaring at the floor as if she could ask "why me?" with a single look.   
"You really don't have any shame, do you." She comments, hearing only a dumb "oh" in response. She can hear him walk over, but she dares not look. The guy was already down to removing his boxers when she came in, there was no way he wasn't stark naked right now. Her heart nearly hyperventilates, as if that was a thing that could happen, as he grows closer. What the hell is he doing? Doesn't he know that the personal space bubble is way bigger when one party is in the nude? 

Her fears are relieved a moment later when she realizes he was merely picking up the towel. "Sorry, I forgot you get weirded out about dumb stuff." He responds, drying off. She glances over momentarily to see that he does in fact have a butt before averting her eyes again. Not safe to look yet.   
"It's not dumb. You're dumb." She grumbles.   
"Heh, haven't heard that one before."   
"Oh, shut up." Ayumi snaps a little more than she meant to, but Yoshiki doesn't seem to care. Or if he does, he doesn't stop the shuffling noises of drying off. "It's perfectly normal to not want to see your friend naked." She counters, before hearing those telltale signs that he's stopped moving. She turns to look at him, finding that he had turned almost completely to face her, hands holding the towel on his head as if in mid-rub. She doesn't look anywhere but his face, since his face is so full of pure joy that it captured all of her attention. 

"You said friend." His words are almost reverent, and his eyes sparkle as a drip of water slides down the bridge of his nose. Ayumi huffs and looks away again, crossing her arms and turning her back to him completely. The only word she dares utter is "dumbass." 

That seemed to be enough for him. Soon enough, he told her that she could turn around without threat of seeing a "meat stick." She gags at his words but turns around to look regardless. He still seemed damp, but it was a notable improvement on before. Even better was that the towel was wrapped around his waist and his chest was bare and still just a little wet and damn, how had she never noticed how fit he is before now? She shakes her head to clear it before looking away again. "Let me get you some clothes. I can't have you walking around my house all nude like that."   
"Why not?" Came his teasing response. She glances over to see him wiggling his eyebrows at her. She scoffs and turns away to pick up his clothes off the floor.   
"I'm gonna go wash these. See if you can find something to wear." Ayumi instructs him as she heads off to her room with an armful of drippy clothes.   
"Wait, Shinozaki where should I look for-"   
"Just follow me then! Imbecile." She mutters the last part to herself, though she's sure he probably heard it. 

Once she's back in her bedroom, she throws his clothes in with hers in the hamper, then picks it up to take it to the washing machine. "Hope you don't mind if your clothes smell girly when I'm done washing them." She hears a disgruntled huff from behind her in response, and a little self satisfied smirk appears on her face afterwards. 

He thankfully does not follow her all the way to her laundry room, so she gets a few moments to relax. While she fills the washer with clothes, she pauses as she comes to a realization. Ever since she started talking to Yoshiki, she hasn't felt scared at all. Her face flushed with embarrassment as she shoves the rest of the clothes into the washer quickly. When everything is set and done, she heads back to her room, walking in to find her surprise guest trying to squeeze his way into one of her shirts. He wasn't very much bigger than her, but he was still definitely more muscular. She storms over, pulling the shirt off his head and yanking it off his arm that was sticking through the arm hole. "Oh no I do not think so!" She admonishes, glaring at him as he just looks confused. "No way are you stretching out my silent hill shirt." 

His look of confusion turns to plain pissy in a moment. "Well what the hell am I supposed to wear then?"   
"I don't know!" Ayumi yells back, frowning. "Maybe you could try on my father's clothes, idiot?" Yoshiki blinks before realizing that was actually a good idea. He wanders off to go find clothes while Ayumi groans and folds her Toluca Lake shirt up and stuffs it back in her drawer. 

A few short moments later, Yoshiki returns. Her dad's shirt and pants look a little big on him, but he's at least covered. The towel is draped around his neck.   
"Where are your parents, anyway?" He asks, absentmindedly scratching his ear.   
"They're out. I'm home alone right now, besides you. Don't get any ideas." She narrows her eyes, warning him. Even so, she felt perfectly safe with the boy being the only one around. Part of her wanted to sit down and lean against him. She decides to do half of that, and just sit down. Her bed creaks a little as she sits, and she remembers how tired she is. Ayumi yawns, closing her eyes. She opens them again just in time to see Yoshiki staring at her like her yawn was just the cutest thing. 

The weirdest part was she didn't even find it disturbing. 

"So." He starts, standing in the middle of her room awkwardly.   
"Why did you come here?" Ayumi interrupts. She didn't care what else he had to say, she just wanted to know what his reason was. 

Yoshiki looks taken aback, eyebrows shooting up in surprise.   
"What do you mean? Isn't it obvious? You were upset, I wanted to help. That's why." 

Now it was Ayumi's turn to be surprised.   
"You came to help me? Even after all the horrible things I said to you?"   
He nods, smiling as he walks over and takes a seat next to her.   
"I know you didn't mean it. When you get like that, you're scared. It's okay. I'll stick by you no matter what." He couldn't look her in the eye while he confessed this, a blush forming on his face. 

She didn't understand what he was saying in the slightest. "Of course I didn't mean it. Hell, you came all the way here in the pouring rain even if I didn't want you to. You're seriously annoyingly determined." She smiles warmly, hoping that insult came off as good natured and friendly as she meant it to. 

"Heh, right." He snickers, running a hand through his hair. "So, what was it you wanted to talk about? Everything that happened? It's been on my mind a lot lately too." 

"You're not my therapist." Ayumi grunts, crossing her arms.   
"No, but I understand you better." Comes his honest response. A real, genuine smile comes across her face, and she doesn't even jump this time when the thunder booms outside. 

"Okay."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please bring me criticisms too, this fic is still in its beta i just wanted to post it.


	3. Chapter 3

Their conversation started slowly with little words, but soon it evolved into a real discussion. She explained how she felt like everything was her fault, and even when he tried to convince her it was not, she ignored the idea.   
"If I never did that stupid charm.." she started, but was soon cut off with surprise as she felt arms wrap around her.   
"It wasn't your fault." He repeats for what must be the twentieth time.   
"But I-"   
"No." He cuts her off.   
"It was-"   
"Nope." His quick words stop whatever thought was about to escape her mouth. 

Silence follows, since she knew that talking would be impossible with this annoyance hanging on her. They sit in silence like that for a moment, and she doesn't fight back against the hug, much to Yoshiki's unhidden joy. Glancing over and seeing a content yet surprised smile on his face actually cheered her up a bit. 

It wasn't a while until Yoshiki finally spoke.   
"Truth or dare." He says, his voice breaking the quiet like a stale cracker.   
"Huh?" Ayumi asks, confusion clear in both her face and voice.   
"Truth or dare." He repeats, leaning back and finally letting go of the hug. "Pick one." A smile was stretched across his face like he thinks he's just the smartest dude around.   
"You're kidding." She gives him a blank expression, almost glaring. A shake of his head and a bigger smile denies this notion. "I am not playing truth or dare with just you. Who knows what you'll make me do or say!"   
"Aw come on you really think that little of me?" He pouts, though still in good spirits. "I promise I won't try anything weird, and you reserve the right to not do something if you don't want to. And it goes both ways, you can make me do stuff." 

That idea was intriguing to Ayumi. Tell him to say or do whatever she wanted? That sounded wonderful. A particularly loud crash of thunder outside barely even makes her blink.   
"Truth." She replies, smirking a little as she watches his face light up.   
"Really? Okay okay. Uh. Hm." He had a list of questions he wanted to ask, but now he was wondering if he should ask them. He decides to go for one. "Why did you ask me for help tonight?" 

Her response made his smile melt off his face.   
"Because Mochida-kun didn't answer." He scowls just a little, which of course doesn't go unnoticed by Ayumi. She says nothing about it, instead just moving on. "Okay your turn. Truth or dare?" 

He sighs, putting a happier face back on.   
"Uh, truth." He says, waiting for the punch. The punch came pretty quickly. 

"Do you have a crush on me?" She asked, face flushing like she asked something less innocent. Yoshiki's face flushes similarly.   
"Wha, uh, that's a, certainly a question." He starts, looking away. Ayumi looks right pleased with herself meanwhile. "Do I have to answer?" He looks at her with a pitiful pouty expression, and for some reason her heart does a little hop.   
"Fine. You don't have to answer. It's obvious anyway." Her teasing pulls a groan from his throat, but they both move on quick enough.   
"Your turn now, truth or d-" she doesn't let him finish.   
"Dare." She says quickly, a look of determination on her face. This response was surprising to Yoshiki. He was readying another question for her but now he had to think of something for her to do. 

An idea came to him quickly, and his heart thudded just thinking about it. Could he really ask her to do... that? He almost decided on telling her to do something silly like jump around when he noticed her eyes. They were so full of feeling as they stared into his, and after the question she just asked, this would fit. 

"Kiss me." He commands, looking into her eyes like she was about to slap him. Which, regrettably, is exactly what she does.   
"I said no weird stuff, asshole!" She whines loudly, face flushing bright red.   
"Kissing isn't weird, that's normal!" He argues, trying to save face.   
"No, normal is telling me to jump up and down or something. Kissing is weird!" She folds her arms, looking away with her jaw set.   
"Fine, okay! Whatever." He yells back. Then, when everything is calm, he decides to make a stupid mistake. 

"So are you gonna do it?" He asks, leaning forward a little, expectantly. Ayumi sputters, even more embarrassed.   
"What?! No, god, of course I'm not! Get over yourself! Freaking creep." She pushes him back, turning away. Yoshiki sighs, sitting a little farther away. Of course he had to go and open his stupid mouth. 

He closes his eyes, running them with the heels of his hands. He only opens them again when he feels the bed creak as Ayumi stands up. He stands up as well to go after her but she shoots him a look that says to sit back down. He does as he is silently commanded, sitting down obediently. She gives him a soft, apologetic smile that makes his heart thud in his chest.   
"Bathroom." She says. "I'll be right back, don't you go and worry." He smiles back, nodding once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took me a while to write because Ive been hella busy lately. not because I put time into making it quality. Obviously.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took a little while for me to write but here it is!

In the bathroom, Ayumi stares at her reflection in the mirror with blank eyes. Her head was swimming with confusing thoughts. For one, his offer to kiss wasn't just a silly dare and she knew it, but that wasn't the real problem. She actually kind of wanted to kiss him. 

Just thinking about that made her want to wince. She figured it was probably just desperation and loneliness that made her want something like that. Kissing Kishinuma, no way in hell would she ever! A smile crossed her face after a moment even with her disgust. At least she wasn't thinking about that nightmare anymore. She would much rather think about her stupid friend Kishinuma than that awful memory.

Ayumi turns to walk out of the bathroom, feeling better. That's when a huge lightening strike shakes the building, and her mind clicks back into the horror of the first earthquake that send her and her friends falling into blackness. In her mind, she was back in that place, the walls of her bathroom turning into the bloodstained halls of the elementary school. She could feel the floor falling out from beneath her, but mostly she could feel her chest closing up as she hyperventilates. 

"No, nooooooooo!" She screams, falling to the floor. "Not again, I can't do it again! No more no more no more!" She babbles on, speaking between gasping breaths. She barely even registers the door slamming open. 

"Shinozaki!!" Yoshiki yells, standing in the doorway. The loud bang of the door opening did not help her situation, and she flinches away from him.   
"No, no!" She shields herself, curling into a fight ball next to the toilet. He quickly rushes to her side and fends off her smacking hands.   
"Shinozaki, you're safe! You're here with me! Calm down." She managed to calm down a little, enough to let him hold her. They sit like that for a while, Ayumi sobbing into Yoshiki's chest while he mutters gentle words of reassurance. 

They stay like that for half an hour, long enough that Yoshiki starts to feel uncomfortable. His ass hurts from sitting on the tile floor, and his shirt is all wet from tears. But as long as Ayumi felt better, it was all worth it. After another minute of silence, she sits up, eyes red and puffy and nose still dripping with snot. He grabs a piece of toilet paper to wipe her face off, and she just tiredly accepts the assistance. 

"Do you feel better?" He asks after a moment, petting her hair. She nods, sniffling.   
"Sorry." She mutters, looking at the floor. He shakes his head immediately to grab her face and force her to look at him.   
"Hey, don't be sorry, it's okay." The look in his eyes was serious, a determination she rarely saw. She nods, sniffling as he continues to dry her face. Then she mutters something that he was wondering himself recently. 

"Why are you so nice to me like this, all I've done is yell and belittle you. I don't deserve it." She says, looking down. He glares, seemingly at her but really it's just glaring in general. Then he says something she will never forget. 

"Because I love you."


	5. Chapter 5

Ayumi's puffy eyes widen and her heart skips a beat.   
"You, what?" She practically whispered. She knew about his crush on her but she never would have thought he actually loved her. She just sat there stunned for a moment before pushing him away and standing up on wobbly legs.   
"How can you just say something like that so bluntly!" Her tone was scolding and harsh, making him flinch. 

"Geez, be a little more angry while you reject me why don't you." His passive aggressive response surprised her, and she takes a step back, stumbling on her leg that has fallen asleep. He was up in a second to catch her before she fell. She gripped him tightly as he stood her back up, and to his surprise, kept holding onto him even when she was stable. She wouldn't meet his eyes no matter how hard he tried to get her to look at him. 

Finally, a voice came out of her mouth, soft and airy.   
"I didn't reject you." She practically whispers, looking at the floor. A surge of hope shoots through Yoshiki's chest.   
"I can't say that I l-luh-lo- um. Feel the same way exactly but.." that but had his heart racing. ".. you stuck with me in that horrible place, you didn't leave me behind even when I was awful to you. And I wanted to protect you too. I was mad at you so much, I hated you at times, I felt good telling you off for every little thing."   
He cuts her off by placing a finger against her lips.   
"That was the stress. I went off too, I got mad too. Hell, I get mad every damn day of my life. But you, you ground me." He smiles and Ayumi's heart skips a beat. "I never did really thank you for crying on my behalf that day." Her look of confusion makes him pause. 

"What? You mean way back when, with the asshole teacher? Did that really mean that much to you? You know I wasn't crying for you, I was just crying because of my speech." She explains, feeling guilty. He just shakes his head. 

"I know. But you kept me from becoming a dropout, you brought me into becoming closer friends with everyone. It's because of you that I'm actually feeling hopeful about the future." He glances at her slightly parted lips and then back up to her watering eyes. "You gave me hope, Shinozaki. And on that day I swore that I would stand by you no matter what." A tear drop falls out of her eye and he wipes it away with his thumb. He watched her eyes glance down. Yoshiki's heart thudded. This was it, wasn't it. He would finally get what he's been aching for for so long. 

He leans in slowly, savoring the moment. Skin connects to skin and it feels... harder than expected. He leans back and looks down, and finds to his dismay, Ayumi had put her hand up in front of her mouth. A bit of rage fills up in his chest, shooing the butterflies that were there moments before out violently.   
"Oh, come on." He groans, letting go of her to go sulk next to the sink, grumbling to himself. "Spill my fucking guts out." His little tantrum is interrupted by a sudden hug from behind. Her little arms wraparound his middle tightly. When he looks in the mirror, he can just see the top of her head over his shoulder. 

"I'm sorry." She says, and the sadness in her voice melts him. "I'm just not.. ready." He sighs, understanding her but still feeling disappointed. Then she continues speaking. "I'm really tired. Could you just um, hold me?" His heart nearly takes a giant hammer to his ribs.   
"Yeah, yes of course! You can sleep on me any time, really. And I'll stay up too so you know you're safe." He wasn't going to say he wanted to stay up to savor the feeling of holding her, since he figured that would be creepy. He was getting better with not just speaking his mind, see. She nods, smiling just a little. "Thank you, Kishinuma." 

That was when she leaned up and left a small peck on his cheek. His cheek tingled where her lips touched it, like some sort of magic pixie dust was in her skin. It wouldn't be surprising, considering how she sparkles in his eyes. Even when she was having a panic attack, snot dropping out of her nose and tears running down her contorted face, she sparkled. But that was probably really cheesy to think. 

They made their way back to her bed, and he had to admit to feeling excited. However, he was nervous all in the same breath. What if something awkward were to happen? His worries didn't end when they sat down, nor did they end when he laid back with her head on his chest and arms around him. But when she sighed in contentment and closed her eyes, he felt accomplished, and despite his promise to stay awake, he ended up drifting off as well, the rhythm of their breathing syncing up.

**Author's Note:**

> Will be continued. Eventually.   
> Constructive criticism is very very very welcome


End file.
